Jo's Stitching 2023

[fccs]

I love these updates and will miss them when you have completed this beautiful piece.

I have noted that the amount of stitching being posted on the forum seems to have decreased of late I wonder if it is a spring thing

I noticed it also. I'm one of those who hasn't been stitching, but I did get a message from my stitchy bug that he is on the way home. I think Spring may be part of the issue for some. I know my gardening friends have spent as much as possible in their gardens, now that Spring seems to actually here and not just teasing us.

Carole

I love spring! Right now we’re in our “winter spring” season. Monday we got 10” of snow, but it started melting the next day and I can see some green grass. Yay.

[fccs]

While often tedious, at the same time the back stitch really does make the design "pop" and come to life.

Carole

I agree. I generally backstitch as I go because it’s not my favorite thing to do. I’m afraid if I leave for it the end, I might never do it. And seeing a design come to life with backstitch encourages me to keep going.

[KittyZ]

The backstitching is looking good so far.
I can't wait to see what you plan to work on next.
I have to agree with everyone else that as the weather gets nicer, I have less free time for stitching.

[Steam.Jo]

Thankyou ladies. Am I allowed to mention how boring the back stitching is ?



I think I am about half way and have just scrolled up a bit. To try to encourage me I have been having a bit of a stash raid to see what I could make next



I do not want to start anther TW piece as I have two of those currently underway. I have fond memories of my trip to Rome... I always love my birdies (we are rather sad as our tame pigeon friend was taken by a cat yesterday ) so the Lanarte birdie one is tempting. I also fancy the "A forest Grew" and have found a more suitable saying to go into the centre. The Lanarte Bees and the Butterflies (not shown) are lovely but then again the Butterfly Wildflower meadow one is rather nice. And then there are the two Butterfly cushion fronts It is always so difficult to decide which challenging piece to do net.

Then I need to consider an "easy one" to do in the Conservatory

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

I have decided to mount up the material for both Rome and the Flower Meadow.

The Rome piece is supposed to be 79cm by 50cm so I assumed it would fit on my Elbesse floor stand which is 1m wide. But no the material is 110cm wide so I can either cut 10cm off or I might fold 6cm on either side and stitch the extra under

I thought I had a roller frame that would fit the Flower Meadow but I discovered, having edged and starched/ironed the fabric then sewn in the centre marking twice (I first found the centre then found it had a printed pattern and you had to centre on a specific bit ) that the only roller frame I have big enough already has had the Poppy Geese Thea Governor material prepared and stretched on to it of course that is also rather nice

I hate having to make decisions

Jo

[Roland]

Doing backstitching may be boring, but so worth it. It brings everything to life.

[fccs]

Oh, such beautiful options to have. It would be hard to pick one....

[Steam.Jo]

Thanks Guys

I've been doing things trying to get my enthusiasm to do more backstitching. I have mounted up the material for the Rome piece on my floor standing frame:



The material is too wide for the frame. On the finished Dutch Beauty on the wall behind it I had to mount the fabric sideways on to stitch it This time I have folded 4cm of fabric on either side over, stitched the top and bottom to the binding tape then added some padding to the middle to make up for the difference in thickness as I roll it round the two rollers. There was still a bit of a sag in the material even with it full stretched so I have added some extra stitches on either side to hold it tighter horizontally.

I have also been BAD The chart says reproduction is not allowed. How on earth you are supposed to read the chart when it is printed so small I do not know. I have enlarged the 10 sheets by 141% and still I can hardly see the difference between some of the symbols. So now have five strips of chart for going across the piece.

This is one of those pieces done on 36 count linen with a single strand of floss. Why they give you such a huge needle is beyond me so I will be looking out either a Permin needle or a size 28 needle when I start it

Needless to say I am looking forward to some more backstitching

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

As I'm on a roll putting charts together I thought I would do the one for the geese as well. It was all going well until I read the instructions and it mentioned using the big black spot as the centre.



The big black spot is no where near the centre but then I got confused Why is this chart gridded out with six by six boxes to each of the darker outlined boxes. I know I have brain fog but I don't need that sort of help.

Jo

[rcperryls]

The backstitching may be boring but it is worth every stitch when the detail comes into beautiful focus.
Love the choices you've made and think I'd still be sitting there trying to decide what to do next.
I don't think I've ever seen a chart gridded like the one you've got. I'm not sure how I'd manage. My counting is based on 10 x 10, and since I usually draw a grid on my fabric, this would be tricky. I almost always start a piece in the top left of the fabric but would be confused by a center date which isn't centered. Where is this chart from?

Carole

[Steam.Jo]

This is a hand drawn chart from Thea Governeur which came in a kit. Her other charts I have worked with have always had standard 10x10 grids. This one with 6x6 is just bizarre.

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

Dare I say top half of the backstitching done.



Work underway on the other half ... Then there is a bit of cording/couching and finally the beading

Jo

[rcperryls]

The butterflies are wonderful and are worth all the backstitching just by themselves.

Carole

[Nicola Main]

Absolutely gorgeous work Jo! And I've never seen a chart with a 6 x 6 grid before

[Steam.Jo]

Good news I have finished all the backstitching (only 8 days ):



Cording and beading to go

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

Just finished the beads and I am not sure if I like them:



The beads are large cheap plastic ones which have a poor finish. I am going to leave this in the frame for a few days while I decide if I want to remove all the beads and replace them with some Millhill seed beads.

This means that I have a spare stand available so time to set up for my Poppy geese. The first problem is to sort out the threads. While they come pre-sorted on the card alongside the symbol for that colour the kits do not tell you what the colour is. This is ok if you don't by mistake pull a strand out and find the ones either side follow it out and fall on the floor. So first job:



Dig the DMC colour chart out and write all the numbers along side the symbols - this guarantees that I won't have escapee threads because they know I know who they are

Jo

[Roland]

All the backstitch and beading looks stunning. Well worth the time out in.

[rcperryls]

A beautiful finish and well worth the time spent on the back stitching. The beads look fine in the photo, but there isn't any way to tell what kind of quality they are and if it detracts from the beauty of the piece.

One reason I don't like kits is because they don't always tell you what the DMC number is. I also don't like the cards they use to presort so I end up wrapping them on bobbins. I understand why they don't give you the numbers. Makes it more difficult for copyright abuse to happen. But that also limits some of my options.

Carole

[Mabel Figworthy]

She has come out beautifully, what a great piece of work!

[fccs]

She is stunning.